STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LINDA S. CARTER
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblymen McGuckin and Venezia
SYNOPSIS
Directs Attorney General to establish program for anonymous reporting of potential threats to school safety.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning school safety threats and supplementing chapter 41 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, in consultation with the New Jersey Education and Law Enforcement Working Group, shall establish a program that provides the ability for the public to anonymously report information concerning unsafe, potentially harmful, dangerous, violent, or criminal activities in schools or the threat of those activities. The program shall:
a. establish and maintain readily accessible methods of anonymous reporting, which may include, but need not be limited to, a telephone tip line, that is staffed by trained individuals at reasonable hours each day of the week, and a mobile application;
b. allow for any member of the public to report information, including students, parents, school staff members, and other community members;
c. establish methods and procedures to ensure that the identity of the reporting party remains unknown to all persons and entities, except in instances where the reporting party voluntarily discloses his identity and verifies that his identity may be shared with law enforcement officers, school officials, and employees operating the program;
d. promptly forward information received by the program to the appropriate law enforcement agencies or school officials;
e. provide training to law enforcement dispatch centers, school districts, nonpublic schools, and other entities determined by the Attorney General on awareness of the program and appropriate response to tips received through the program;
f. provide proper guidelines for students regarding the procedures for anonymously reporting information concerning potential threats to school safety; and
g. provide program awareness and education materials to all public and nonpublic schools in the State.
2. a. The Attorney General shall annually prepare a report on the program. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) the total number of reports made to the program, disaggregated by subgroups to be determined by the Attorney General;
(2) the dates, times, and means of reporting;
(3) the total number of instances of misuse of the program; and
(4) a summary of the outcomes and actions taken on reports made to the program.
b. The Attorney General shall submit the report to the Governor and the Education Committees of the Senate and General Assembly and post the report on the Internet website of the Department of Law and Public Safety by January 1 of the following year.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the seventh month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Attorney General, in consultation with the New Jersey Education and Law Enforcement Working Group, to establish a program that provides a means for the public to anonymously report information concerning unsafe, potentially harmful, dangerous, violent, or criminal activities in schools or the threat of those activities. The program will allow students, parents, school staff, and other community members to anonymously report information through readily accessible methods such as a telephone tip line, that is staffed by trained individuals at reasonable hours each day of the week, and a mobile application. The program must ensure that the identity of the reporting party remains unknown, except in instances where the reporting party voluntarily discloses his identity and verifies that his identity may be shared with law enforcement officers, school officials, and employees operating the program. The bill requires that information received through the program be promptly shared with the appropriate law enforcement agencies or school officials.
Under the bill, training will be provided to law enforcement dispatch centers, school districts, nonpublic schools, and other entities determined by the Attorney General on awareness of the program and appropriate response to tips received through the program. Proper guidelines will be provided to students regarding the procedures for reporting potential threats to school safety. In addition, program awareness and education materials will be provided to all public and nonpublic schools in the State. The program established under this bill would be similar to Colorados Safe2Tell program, which provides an anonymous and readily accessible tool for the reporting and sharing of information regarding potential threats to school safety.
This bill also requires the Attorney General to annually prepare a report on the program that includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1) the total number of reports made to the program, disaggregated by subgroups to be determined by the Attorney General; (2) the dates, times, and means of reporting; (3) the total number of instances of misuse of the program; and (4) a summary of the outcomes and actions taken on reports made to the program. The Attorney General is required to submit the report to the Governor and the Education Committees of the Senate and General Assembly and post the report on the Internet website of the Department of Law and Public Safety by January 1 of the year immediately following issuance of the report.